Showtime!

If both players show up, we’re in for a really entertaining match for a first round.

Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll see the best version of these two players given that they’re both carrying a few minor issues. Let’s start with Fokina, who is coming back from injury and is clearly lacking physical fitness and I’d even say mental fitness at the moment to really fight and string several matches together. We saw it in Madrid where he got through the first round before losing heavily to Ruud in a match he basically gave away because he didn’t feel capable of winning that day. I wouldn’t say he had the same mindset against Rublev in Rome, because he did try a bit more, but in his attitude, and in what he attempts on court, you don’t get the feeling of a guy who truly believes. It’s going to take time before we see him at 100% in every area, but I already saw a small improvement in Rome that should continue here in Hamburg.

For Moutet, it’s a bit more complicated because the Frenchman is hampered by his right wrist and is trying to hide it or at least keep playing as long as he can. He hits a few topspin backhands but still slices a lot to avoid having to hit too many of them. He ends up compensating physically like crazy, trying to move around his backhand as much as possible. His recent losses all make sense, I’d say. Even though he fights hard, it’s a bit too difficult for him to win matches with this little problem.

The match we’ve got tomorrow will be worth watching for several of the reasons mentioned above. For my part, I still feel like Fokina has enough energy in the early rounds for us to trust him before potentially laying him later on. Moutet fights hard, but it’s tough for him to win matches. When you look at their head-to-head against Fokina, you see a pretty clear 3–0 for the Spaniard, and I’m not all that surprised, since he’s the kind of guy who plays at a very high tempo and can also defend really well. He’s got a good net game and can quite simply play better than Moutet. I don’t get the feeling that this style of play bothers him all that much.